Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Raises Position in Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund raised its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes Co. (NYSE:MTH) by 5.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,598 shares of the construction company’s stock after buying an additional 1,129 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Meritage Homes were worth $3,168,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MTH. Hennessy Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Meritage Homes during the 4th quarter valued at about $43,147,000. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new stake in Meritage Homes in the third quarter valued at approximately $44,029,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in Meritage Homes in the third quarter valued at approximately $36,365,000. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 75.1% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 347,227 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $71,206,000 after purchasing an additional 148,898 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP grew its holdings in shares of Meritage Homes by 26.9% in the third quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 483,159 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $99,081,000 after purchasing an additional 102,502 shares during the last quarter. 98.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Meritage Homes Stock Performance

Shares of MTH opened at $74.78 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $79.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $89.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 1.61 and a quick ratio of 1.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.37 billion, a PE ratio of 5.72 and a beta of 1.88. Meritage Homes Co. has a one year low of $71.05 and a one year high of $106.99.

Meritage Homes (NYSE:MTH) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The construction company reported $4.72 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.55 by $0.17. Meritage Homes had a return on equity of 15.90% and a net margin of 12.29%. On average, analysts anticipate that Meritage Homes Co. will post 9.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meritage Homes Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This is an increase from Meritage Homes’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.30%. Meritage Homes’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Alison Sasser sold 676 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.03, for a total value of $48,692.28. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $427,353.99. The trade was a 10.23 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Steven J. Hilton purchased 11,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The stock was bought at an average price of $74.51 per share, for a total transaction of $819,610.00. Following the purchase, the chairman now directly owns 811,192 shares in the company, valued at $60,441,915.92. The trade was a 1.37 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,683 shares of company stock worth $122,547 in the last three months. 2.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MTH has been the subject of several analyst reports. Raymond James cut shares of Meritage Homes from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of Meritage Homes from $97.00 to $90.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $98.50 target price (down from $110.00) on shares of Meritage Homes in a research note on Friday, December 13th. StockNews.com lowered Meritage Homes from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Meritage Homes from $117.50 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $106.25.

About Meritage Homes

Meritage Homes Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, designs and builds single-family attached and detached homes in the United States. The company operates through two segments, Homebuilding and Financial Services. It acquires and develops land; and constructs, markets, and sells homes for entry-level and first move-up buyers in Arizona, California, Colorado, Utah, Texas, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee.